


Reversed

by 13ineedpills13



Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Humor, Other, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22163161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/13ineedpills13/pseuds/13ineedpills13
Summary: Au in which Elias is poor and Liz is rich. That's about it.
Relationships: Elias Goldstein/Klaus Goldstein, Elias Goldstein/Main Character
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Reversed

There are theories about parallel universes. 

What if your life actually had infinite forms in this world filled with infinite choices? What if you are a doctor now but... in some other universe, you are a homeless person? Or what if you are so young right now, but you are pretty old in another one? It's weird and scary to think about it.

The space and time sure are complex things. Some day, the distance between the atoms will get so big that they can't make bonds with each other anymore and the universe will literally crack. I wonder if that's the infamous dooms day? Where everything is so terrible and all the life forms will dissappear, and the time of punishment and reward will come? Where we get what we deserve based on our sins and good deeds? Where we are all equal, rich or poor, but if that's the case, why does the rich never help the poor? Aren't they scared of the Dooms Day? 

What's the point of Dooms Day, or even Religion, if it can't make people find inner peace and make them equal to each other? The lottery of life decides whether or not if you are going to be rich, where is the justice at that...?

...

But that's many years far away. The Dooms Day I mean, so far away, that we don't even have to worry about it. 

The human brain likes to mess around though, it makes you worry about a possible disaster that might happen billions of years later. This story takes place in one of these parallel universes. So I guess there is a slight irony in here.

Pardon me, I spoke for too long about unrelated things. Allow me to end this idle chit-chat, let's get on with the story.

\---

"Elias." Klaus called out to his younger brother.

"...Elias?" There was no reply. 

"Elias!" Klaus raised his voice this time. 

There was still no reply, just the shuffling of some papers and the clanking of a pen. Curious, Klaus went over to Elias' door (it was a really tiny house so it took him a few seconds to reach there) and opened the door."Just what are you doing? I've been calling out to you for 4 minutes now! It's not even a proper number, it's 4!"

Elias seemed pretty tense, he was standing next to his drawer, refusing to move from there. Like he had something to protect. 

"It's nothing really." He lied blantly.

"Yeah, nothing that causes you to ignore my calls hm?" He smiled emptily, which made Elias shiver and feel so small compared to him.

"Um... Just what are you saying? I didn't heard you, it's just that."

"I remember how you were crying to your pillow when dad slapped you, Elias. You were acting like he stabbed you.:

Elias seemed disgusted and his face went white when he remembered that day. "I hate you..."

"I don't care." Klaus shrugged. "What were you doing?"

"..." Elias slowly moved away from the drawer and showed a few pages that had unfinished lines on it with a terrible handwriting. He never wrote that often, more like couldn't since all the education he had was the equivalent of a 1st grader and he did most of the chores around the house. And Klaus was the one who thought him how to write and read. His father was a poor man and worked at a small shop as a cleaning employee. Klaus was a librarian, and the eldest was an asisstant that was on his way to become a doctor. So, the family's first priority was to make money instead of education.

"I was trying to write a resume of my own, I'm going to take a part in that magic tool competition..."

Klaus his eyebrows. "With what? Your latest "inventions"?" Staring at his younger brother with ridiculing eyes, he came closer to him and leaned agganist him, making Elias step backwards. 

"How about you use that resume to actually find a job instead of wasting thr paper I worked do hard to buy for?"

Elias gulped. "Sorry... But I'm going to participate! I have wonderful plans!" He didn't have any plans.

"Such as?"

"I... It is a suprise. Thanks to my invention, we will no longer... starve! And-and you can go to school to become a teacher, and Alfonse can become a doctor, and, and... And d... Dad wont have to work anymore too, he is an old man now... We can also find mom somewhere with that money..." Elias paused. 

'Now hit him in his weak point, Elias!' The demon besides his shoulder poked him lightly.

"And... you've lost weight again too, didn't you?"

Klaus shut his mouth when he heard that and instinctively held his belt. Indeed, he had to carve a few more holes into it to wear it, or his pants would fall off. His boss was concerned about him, but there was nothing he could do. He himself barely made any money. The lack of food, healthy drinking water and money was a huge problem for the family. The library he worked at gave him 10,5 Lunes a day, he couldn't do shit with that. So, with the guilt of not being that much of a help around the house, he never ate with his family. He began to lose weight.

"...Worry about yourself first. You are no different." Klaus looked away. "We live in a house like a can for god's sake. I share a room with Alfonse, and learned writing, reading and basic math from him. We never got a chance to go to school too. We are poor as a joke Elias."

"That's why I'm working for! This invention will-"

"Enough with your stupid inventions, you are just wasting important material. They were all useless up until now, I doubt it will be useful from now on too..." He sighed. "Just... Join this thing if you are actually sure that you'll win. It will be a waste of your time otherwise."

"Do you know what my dream is, Klaus?"

"Becoming an inventor?"

Elias nodded. "Do you know why? Because I want to put our family's name on the map. I'm tired of seeing you all like this everyday. You said you wanted to be a professor when I was little." He clenched his fists. He had a oained expression. "But... You say that dream is long gone now. It's not! I know it's still inside of you, even if it's really faint, I know it's there. You never give up. If you were the type to run away, you would have done it a long time ago..." Elias took a deep breath. He had butterflies allover his stomach, it was the bad kind. His voice was trembling and his heart was pounding fast. "...Please, hold onto that dream. Don't end up like father."

Klaus frowned, he couldn't meet his gaze. "You are speaking like that only because we make life easier for you. But once you are an adult, you'll get what I mean. In times like this, you have to cling onto the first opportunity you see and never let go." He shook his head. "And never jump to any other one, or you'll lose your grip and fall to a bottomless pit." .

...And left the room.

Elias sighed. Klaus was always like that. 

"...I should finish this thing then." 

And so, Elias continued to write his short resume in the best way possible for application.

\---

"Yukiya?" Elias called out to his best friend at the town square.

Yukiya was the oldest son of the Reizen's, a family that worked in the agricultural industry. They mostly produced vegetables and fruits instead of dairy products and meat, which didn't really bringed them a solid income but it was not that bad. The two met near this square when they were little, and they've been inseparable ever since. Yukiya would give Elias some food whenever he could, and Elias would teach him about magic tools and such. His family was somewhere in the middle, but their farm was still *gigantic*...Or everything just seemed huge and luxurious to Elias.

Yukiya stopped, looked over at his way and waved to him. 

"Hi."

Elias ran up to him and showed the competition poster on his hand with an enthusiasm that wad very unlike him. "Did you know about this?"

Yukiya stared blankly at the poster. "I didn't. Why?"

"Do you want to work with me on this? It's a magic tool competition, the winner gets 10.000 Lunes. We will make something legendary and inovationary, and I promise I'll give you half of the prize money." Elias' eyes sparkled as he talked about the prize money. Even with just the half of the money, his family could live off of it for a long time. This time would be enough for him to find a good job, and the winning tool was also going to be produced and sold in the market. Most of the money made off of it was going to the inventor's family anyway.

"...I don't need money, Elias."

"I can't just let you go without a prize when we win." Elias was so sure of himself.

"No, my monthly allowence is already 10.000 Lunes. I really don't need the money. You also never accept it whenever I try to lend you a cheque to buy your family some food."

"That's because I have to gain money on my own. I can't accept your help like that." Elias bringed the poster town and played with it's edges. He seemed... down. That enthustiasm was gone. "I hate accepting others' help without giving something to them in return. The work go easy on me simply because it cares about me." Elias looked up at Yukiya. "Oh, sorry. I rambled a bit too much."

"It's okay." Yukiya was quiet for a few seconds after that. "...I'll help you with the tool. And if you want to pay me back... You'll help me with a meeting between my family and the Gregor Hart's daughter. You know, the preparations and such..."

"Gregor Hart?" 

Ah yes.  
The Hart's.

Gregor Hart was a man that invented many magic tools and originally came from a very poor family. But with his insane skills, he managed to reach to the top in no time. He and his wife had some problems at concieving a child for a long time, the wife had miscarried all of the previous children, and Gregor Hart learned that he himself had a 3% chance of concieving a child due to something in his genetics. This of course, crushed the family and they considered divorce for a few months, but a miracle happened after the divorce and the wife learned that she was pregnant. .

Gregor Hart was suprised, so he kept constanct with his ex-wife. And after 9 months of fear of another miscarriage, a beautiful baby girl was born during spring. Gregor Hart married with the woman again, and looked after his new-born and wife with care. Dressing up the two of them in beautiful clothes, buying her the most luxirious toys and jewels, going out to the town with them, getting super anxious whenever the girl or the mother got sick and called the most talented doctors around the kingdom to cure their sicknesses, even if it was a small cold. 

The girl, whom he named Liz, was a 19 year old girl now. From what Elias heard and seen, Liz was a really gentle and beautiful girl. She could talk to animals, she helped homeless and poor in need whenever she saw one, and she was great at baking. She was a bit clumsy though, however, this clumsiness added extra points to her charm. She was also really scared when she was angry too. Rumor said that she once stepped on her butler's nose so hard that she actually broke it and kicked the man in his parts so hard that the man had to cut it off. Elias shivered by the thought.

"The Heart Family eh..." It seems that the family was slowly rising in agriculture too. "Is it about marrige?"

Yukiya's cheeks were dusted with a bright pink, he looked like the pink carbuncle Elias saw the other day, which made Elias smile a bit.

"N...No. It's for business."

"I can tell you like her, Yukiya."

"..." Yukiya seemed like he was about to scream at Elias. 

"Still... Why do you want help from a person that lives in the Forgotten City when it comes to one of the richest families in the kingdom...?"

"You can always work alone--"

"I will help!" Elias quickly changed his mind. 

"Great." Yukiya shook hand with him and left him at the square. Elias folded the poster back and began walking back to his house. Their conversations were always short and to the point like this, but Elias liked Yukiya's personality. He was a smart man.

\---

"Alfonse, how much did you make this month?"

"About 200 Lunes."

"Klaus?"

"260 Lunes."

"Shouldn't you be making 315?"

"My payment was cut off because I messed up at work. I'm sorry, Father." Klaus kept his head low, with his payement in his hands.

Walter let out a dissapointed sigh and put his earnings to the table. "And I made around 200 too... Elias, you?"

"...None."

"What do you mean "none"? You still haven't find a job yet?"

Elias remained silent and kept his head low, just like his brother.

Alfonse buried his face between his hands, getting ready for another screaming session. But his father stared at Elias and began counting the money on the table. "Hm... 660 Lunes. 400 Lune will go to food if we skip a few meals. The remaning will go to the landlord..."

"Oh how I wish mother was here..." Alfonse muttered and got a dirty look from Klaus. Elias wiped his tears silently and wrnt to his room without his father's permission. 

The dissapointment and regret in his father's eyes was too much for him. 

Now that I think about it, we never talked about the Goldstein's and their past properly. They deserve an introduction too.

You see, Goldsteins were poor people by blood. 

Walter Goldstein, the father, was coming from a poor family too, just like his dear friend Gregor Hart. However, despite of being ten times more talented than Hart, Walter couldn't rise up in the political world and the party he worked at had abandoned him a long time ago. So he returned to his old house, the house they currently live now, and married with his wife. Then he found an underpaying job and because there were no other altenatives, he began working there.

Then, he had his first son and named him Alfonse. He was thrilled to have a child, however, things quickly turned sour when Klaus, his second son, was born. Klaus was not planned, and the family's finances were not ready for another child. The family suffered quiet a bit as the consequences of their mistake. Alfonse was around 3 years old and there were no babysitters around. So, his wife had to leave her job in order to look after the children, which effected the family even more. Then Elias was born. 

With 3 children and an underpaid father, the mother lived her days in despair and stress. Her mood effected Klaus the most, since he always sticked around with his mother. In time, the mother just couldn't cope with the pressure anymore and left the house in tears, leaving all of her live savings behind.

Walter raised his 3 sons, and sent Alfonse to school until he learned to write and read. Then, he sent him to s doctor's clinic and asked the doctor to take him as his assistant and teach him about the treatments. The doctor took pity on the family and agreed to take Alfonse as his pupil. 

Klaus went to school until his first year at the middle school, where he got involved with a bullying case and Walter had to get him out of the school. He didn't send Elias there, and there were no other public schools around too. This was the Forgotten City after all, he couldn't find anything useful in there. 

The mother's whereabouts are unknown, the eldest son is on his way to become a doctor, the 2nd eldest is a strict library, and the youngest... well, he is rather a peculiar person. He loves crafting and making good, functional stuff. And he doesn't have a job. He has his own room, the smallest one in the house and never gets out of there unless it's necessary. 

In short, he is useless.

\-----------------------

Well, I think this is a nice place to end the introductions and get on with the real story. What kind of fate awaits for Elias? Will his relationship with his family get better, or worse? Will he win the competition? Who knows, only the god is capable of knowing everything.

Let's just continue.

\---

Alfonse sighed and looked at his reflection on the mirror.

He looked terrible. 

It was because of all the free coffee he found at work. He drank 5 cups of it to stay awake, but it made him even more sleepy. So, he went to the men's bathroom to wash his face and fell asleep in there, hitting his forehead on the sink. He woke up a few hours later and got scolded by his boss harshly. 

There was a huge bruise on his forehead, two big and black bags under his eyes, his skin was cold and dry, his eyes were blood red, and his outfits were wet. "I wish I could afford a spare change of clothes... Oh well, payment day is getting closer. I better gain more than I did the last time..." He smiled but he kind of looked like a maniac in this state, so he stopped. His lively, sparkly and cheetful blue eyes were losing their spark each day.

"Alfonse, come back here! Your brother is asking for you!"

"Which one?" Alfonse fixed his hair and went over to the main hall, and saw Klaus there.

"Why are you here?"

"Elias didn't wanted to see your face, so I came over here instead. Are you on your break now?"

"I am, why?"

"I need to talk to you about Elias."

They went outside and sat on the stairs. Klaus was dressed, kind of, nicely today. Alfonse wondered where he found those clothes, since he was sure that Klaus didn't owned any new pairs of pants ever since 3 years ago. 

"You look nice today."

"Thank you. Got a date on my hands today, so I dressed up properly for once."

"Is it the girl from the library?"

"Yes, she asked me out. I'm trying to get to know her better."

"I never knew you were intrested in having a partner, Klaus." 

"And what are you implying?" Klaus gave Alfonse a death stare, making him chuckle. "Anyway. What happened to Elias?"

After giving a brief explanation of his conversation with Elias, Klaus lowered his voice and eyed Alfonse suspiciously. "Did you put this idea in his head?"

"Oh, that magic tool thing! I knew he wanted to join, but I didn't say anything about it." Alfonse rubbed his chin but made a sour expression when he felt his growing beard. "Is it a bad thing for him to do?"

"It is. If he wins that prize, there is going to be an unnecessary amount of attention on us. Elias is terrible when it comes to speaking with other people, I also don't want him to get involved with... other people too much. Even the royal family is intrested in this." Klaus put his hand on his cheek and leaned on it. 

"This is making me feel uncomfortable. Most of those people are money-hungry bastards, while we are struggling to find something to eat. God knows what they'll do to Elias once they find out he is from the Forgotten City."

Alfonse nodded. He understood where Klaus was coming from. Indeed, the royal family and their court was being accused of malpractice. However, something didn't clicked right with Klaus' reasoning. It was a small detail, really. He spoke up after a long silence. "You don't know Elias at all, Klaus."

Klaus was dumbfounded. "Excuse me?"

"He... You can't stop him. Elias is the type to... Dream. I know it sounds really unlike him, since he was always a realistic person rarely gets excited or anything, but look at him. He wants to participate so much that he even went agganist you and scolded you."

"I realized that too. But..."

"But what?"

"It just feels wrong of him to get on with this thing. It feels like something bad is going to happen to him at any second. He is so defenseless, and clueless. He is a moron..." Klaus rubber the bridge of his nose. 

"Don't make me give you a truth potion and spill the beans. You seem oddly stressful, I ever seen you this bad before." Alfonse frowned, but having a baby face with... a slight beard made him impossible to take seriously.

Klaus laughed fakely but quickly turned back to normal, staring at him like that one time that he discovered a condom in Alfonse's bag, which was put there by an asshole colleague of his. "I'm always like this, don't cross your boundaries. Convince Elias to get out if that competition and find a normal job like the rest of us, he doesn't listen to me anymore. " 

He got up with a small groan of pain, he sat down for too long and now his kees hurt. The perk of sitting on a low staircase I guess... Then, he waved to Alfonse and went on his day to his date with confident steps. "See you."

"See ya..." Alfonse sighed, once again, and leaned back. "A normal job eh... No job is normal when you're tiring yourself out for the sake of a millionare that you don't even want to be associated with."

\---


End file.
